Tuesday, September 29, 2015

I Crawl Through It by A. S. KingCopyright 2015Little Brown - Young Adult319 pp.WARNING: Possible spoilers!I'm not sure if I spoiled anything, but the unfolding storyling in I Crawl Through It is so unique and special that it might be best to go into the reading entirely blind. If you're afraid I'll give something, anything away, please skip this review and/or page down and only read below the marked "end possible spoilers" line. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! I'm really nice that way.

I've got a new label that I came up with specifically because of this book, although it would definitely cover plenty of other books I've read over the years: "The good kind of weird". The weird comes in the fine line between what is real and what is metaphor.

A deceptively compassionate tale of flawed characters, I Crawl Through It is told from several viewpoints, but I felt like it was mostly the story of Stanzi, a girl who has named herself after Mozart's wife after watching Amadeus 50 times. Her real name is often stated as a blank. Stanzi wears a lab coat everywhere. She is a pro at dissection and while she may seem preturnaturally calm at times -- when the "dangerous bush man" jumps out of the bushes and exposes himself to her, for example -- at other times she sees herself as split into two entirely different people.

China is another character who is metaphorically disastrous and realistically damaged. She has turned herself inside-out. Those around her can tell when she's inside-out and when she's summoned the courage to return to normal. She's crying out for help. Stanzi knows it; she is aware of what happened to China, but doesn't have the emotional strength to deal with her friend's problem.

Among the other flawed and damaged characters are a liar whose hair grows like Pinocchio's nose, a gifted young man who is building an invisible helicopter (which Stanzi can only see on Tuesdays, when it is definitely red), a set of parents who travel to the sites of school shootings and then leave a TV dinner and a note that they've gone to bed for their daughter every night, a mother who spends her time having basement parties with an unsavory theme, and the "dangerous bush man" who spends his free time making beautifully-decorated carved letters and exposing himself.

At school, the daily routine has been interrupted by bomb threats for weeks. Who is sending the bomb threats and why? Is Gustav's helicopter really invisible? Why is Stanzi split in two? Will anyone ever acknowledge China's pain?

----------END POSSIBLE SPOILERS-------------

Everyone is flawed and all are brilliantly rendered. There's a humorous confusion of interplay between metaphor and imagination. What's real? What is potentially magical but possibly entirely imaginary? It's sometimes hard to tell and yet, as the characters' stories become fully formed, the fine line between the two becomes less important. What's crucial to this story is its heart -- the examination of trauma and reaction, and how a little kindness and a caring ear make a big difference in how someone who has been traumatized copes.

Highly recommended - I Crawl Through It is my introduction to A. S. King and I was quite simply blown away. For that I have the YA author Andrew Smith to thank. His recommendation was so enthusiastic that I immediately pre-ordered the book. Many, many thanks to Mr. Smith. I Crawl Through It will definitely be one of my top reads of the year. On Twitter, I referred to the book as a "deceptively brilliant story with heart", "deceptive" meaning the unique blend of metaphor, unreliable narration, and bent perception under which lies a tremendous depth of compassion for those who have been traumatized and for whom simply functioning on an everyday basis is a challenge. In the end, it doesn't even matter whether or not the helicopter is real or the holes that are crawled through exist. What matters is that a little kindness goes a long way.

Seriously, so impressed. I've asked a a King fan in my only book group which book I should look for next and she recommended Everybody Sees the Ants (thanks, Melissa!) Any other fans of King out there who would like to share their favorite titles, please do let me know which you've particularly enjoyed. I'm looking forward to reading more by A. S. King!

Addendum: I neglected to mention that while I Crawl Through It tackles some serious topics, the author still managed to make it a fun (even a bit humorous) read. I found myself smiling a lot.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

All of the following were either books I purchased or (in one case) checked out from the library; and, I see no reason to go around fretting about how much I'm writing if I haven't promised a review to anyone. So, I've decided to do a little catch-up with each description no more than 50 words long. At least, that's the plan.

Horrible Histories: Savage Stone Age by Terry Deary, Illustrated by Martin Brown - The first in the Horrible Histories series for children, recommended by a friend in Scotland and focusing on early humans, their lives, tools, and homes, stone circles, etc. Very entertaining, amusing, and informative.

Tenth of December by George Saunders (library book, not pictured) - Mind-bending short stories as diverse as the opening story about a teenager who must make a decision whether or not to try to save a neighbor from a horrible fate to wacky futuristic horror and, if I remember right, aliens. I waited too long to review this but thought it was exceptional and hope to someday own a copy.

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward - A snapshot of an impoverished Mississippi family including teen pregnancy and dog fighting with Hurricane Katrina as a backdrop. Harsh, raw, but not judgmental. Read for book group and only one person admitted to liking it. Most of us had trouble getting through the reading.

Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonders by Julianna Baggott - The story of an author's final work, missing and possibly burned, told through the eyes of three generations of women in the family (including the titular author, Harriet). A unique, quirky, engaging story.

The World According to Bob by James Bowen - The follow-up to A Street Cat Named Bob (which I've yet to read) continues the story of James and Bob's relationship as he struggled to pay the bills, heal relationships, and deal with a painful case of deep-vein thrombosis. I enjoyed the reading and am looking forward to the first book.

Ross Poldark by Winston Graham - Home in Cornwall after serving in the Revolutionary War, Ross arrives to find his father dead, his home run down, the love of his life engaged to someone else. Ross is a brooding character but hardworking with a huge heart. You can't help but root for him. I hated leaving this world when the book ended.

Mud, Sweat, and Tears by Bear Grylls - The life story of Britain's best-known survivalist, with focus on his youth, his time in the SAS, and his determination to climb Mt. Everest. I was most interested in how he recovered from his parachuting injury, why he joined the SAS, and how he became a TV personality. Much of this was glossed over but I still enjoyed the reading.

Reminder: Next month is October, the month in which many of us plan to read Neverwhere. Unfortunately, my internet provider has warned us that at some point in October they'll be changing us from one network to another and we "may experience a lengthy disruption in service" so I have no freaking idea whether or not I'll even have internet access. Sorry about that. I haven't registered a hashtag but I'm thinking #NeverwhereRAL. Sound good?

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Let Me Tell You by Shirley Jackson was actually due back at the library yesterday but I wasn't quite finished so it will go back this morning, as soon as I'm done telling you about it.

Then, of course, as though my life were not enough complicated, when I finally give up on four-prongs and take out the egg-beater, that surly character is offended in turn, and twists himself into a rigid, disobedient confusion of metal when I try to turn the handle. I get a lot of unnecessary sarcasm from that eggbeater, too. I have let cake batter stand, half-mixed, for half an hour while the eggbeater and the fork calmed down, and at least twice I have had to set them on opposite sides of the kitchen table to keep them from tangling themselves into a snarling battle.

~from "Here I Am, Washing Dishes Again", p. 319 of Let Me Tell You

Naturally, every writer has dealt in one way or another with metaphor, and there are few more pathetic sights than a writer hopelessly entangled in a great unweieldy metaphor that has gotten out of control and is spilling all over the story, killing off characters and snapping sentences right and left; huge metaphors, such as this one, are far better left to people with a lot more time and space to write. Adjectives are always good, of course; no short story really ought to be without adjectives, particularly odd ones -- such as "fulsome" -- that the reader usually has to go and look up. And of course adverbs such as "unworthily" -- even if you have to make them up yourself -- are always useful.

~ from "Garlic in Fiction", p. 397 of Let Me Tell You

Let Me Tell You is the second collection of writings gathered by Jackson's children. The first was published in 1997 and I'm in such a big, freaking hurry that I'm not going to look up the title but I haven't yet read it. Again, her children decided it was about time to go through Jackson's old work, and Let Me Tell You is the result, a book of "short stories, essays, and other writings." I admit to being a little concerned that they would be lesser in some way -- less, punchy or spooky or well-written. What could anyone possibly dig up after 50 years that was still worth reading?

Fret not. The truth is, Shirley Jackson was a brilliant writer and her writing is timeless, although some of it also gives you that sensation of stepping back in time. Let Me Tell You was yet another book I wanted to keep going forever (the last book to make me feel that way was Ross Poldark). I'll probably hold out for the paperback release, assuming there will be one, but checking the book out from the library only convinced me that Let Me Tell You is a book that I need to read over and over and over again. There are subtleties that you miss on the first reading of a Jackson story and hints about some of those bits of symbolism in her novels that I missed entirely.

With very few exceptions, I loved the way the short stories made me squirm. And, there were several essays that have become new favorites. "Good Old House", about living in a house that may be haunted, is my favorite. Jackson never actually uses the word "haunted", instead skirting around it, slowly piling up the stories of things that have gone missing and then returned, clothing showing up repaired, etc., until you can't help but feel like, at the very least, there is some sort of mystical presence.

There are quite a few stories about being a writer with children and a handful of lectures and writings about writing, itself. I posted the quote from "Garlic in Fiction" primarily because writers are constantly told to cut, cut, cut adjectives. It's nice to see an alternative viewpoint.

Highly recommended - If you're a Shirley Jackson fan, you don't want to miss this one. It's a keeper. Since many of the short stories are suspenseful, Let Me Tell Youis also an excellent choice for the RIP Challenge. Let Me Tell You is a 2015 Random House release.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

This is going to be more casual than the typical weekly post because I don't feel like confining myself to format. In fact, the weather has been so unusually nice (cool, autumn-like) that I didn't feel like sitting at the computer at all, yesterday. Cooler weather energizes me. Too bad it's supposed to climb back up to the mid-90s, soon.

Sterling Children's books actually saved me from an otherwise blog-hating day, yesterday. Every now and then, I think, "So, why am I doing this?" and I have to remind myself that the purpose is to keep a record of the books I've read, not to review for publishers or authors, but to allow myself a place to chatter -- and that it's okay if I don't happen to feel like sitting down to write about books. I felt like that, yesterday, then a package of monster books arrived on my doorstep. Wow, did that change my mood!

I had a private monster party, sitting on the couch, reading aloud to the cats and to myself (because you have to read children's books aloud or you won't know if they're good for reading to children, when none are available). And, while I was in the midst of Dining with Monsters, Huzzybuns called. I said, "Hello," and then read him the page I was on. Because he's been married to me forever, he laughed rather than asking me what on earth that was all about.

Arrivals:

Dining with Monsters by Agnese Baruzzi

The Color Monster: A Pop-Up Book of Feelings by Anna Llenas

Monster Trouble! by Lane Fredrickson and Michael Robertson

Mind Your Monsters by Catherine Bailey and Oriol Vidal, all from Sterling Children's Books for review

A box of purchases also arrived from Book Closeouts or whatever it is they call themselves, now (the latest name change just does not work for me):

Mud, Sweat, and Tears by Bear Grylls

A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen

The Dream by Harry Bernstein

I'm on p. 89 of Mud, Sweat and Tears. I've wanted to read Bear Grylls' memoir for quite some time, so I dived right in, but mostly as a break from the string of stories in Let Me Tell You by Shirley Jackson (a library checkout). And, I only spent one night reading Mud, Sweat, and Tears before becoming so immersed in the Jackson that I couldn't bear to leave it.

Last week, I only finished one book: Ross Poldark by Winston Graham. I loved being in the Poldark world so much that it was hard leaving. I'm saving Demelza till I finish some other books I have ahead of it in the mental queue, but I admit to looking at Demelza on my nightstand longingly, every night.

I can't recall when exactly I finished The World According to Bob and I don't feel like fetching my calendar or pulling up past posts, but it was the second of the books about Bob and his formerly homeless owner, James Bowen. A Street Cat Named Bob is the first of the Bob books and I enjoyed World but wanted to read the first book, as well, hence the order placed while I was still reading the second book. The Dream is an immigrant memoir that takes place at least partly during the Great Depression. It was one of several books I left sitting in my cart at . . . okay, it's Book Outlet, now. I just looked at the bookmark. I ditched the rest of the books in my outlet cart. Sometimes, I'll just throw a bunch of books in a cart and leave them there to avoid having to look up a particular subject, all over again, but I seldom end up buying everything I've tossed into the cart. Leaving books in the cart is just a time-saving method.

TL;DR version:

I only managed to finish one book, last week: Ross Poldark.

I'm almost finished with Let Me Tell You by Shirley Jackson, which is due back at the library today.

New favorite essay, by Shirley Jackson, is "Good Old House".

I read a little of Mud, Sweat, and Tears by Bear Grylls when I needed a break from Shirley.

I didn't feel like blogging, yesterday.

A pile of monster books arrived and I had so much fun reading them (and showing favorite monster pop-ups to the spouse) that I became monstrously annoying.

It's been cool outside but it won't last.

In other news, I got some inexpensive extension tubes for my camera and I've been having loads of fun taking closeups of apples, flowers, cat eyeballs and poppets.

Also, Izzy is doing great and still going out of her way to show how cute she is.

And, that rug has got to go. Both husband and I have decided we went from enjoying the bold colors to hating it, this past year. The cats think it's a scratching pad so it's also not in the best of shape. I had to touch the image up a bit.

I love what the National Book Foundation had to say about this book (from the book cover), so I'll open with their thoughts:

"Redniss's achievment is a celebration of the essential power of books to inform, charm, and transport. In marrying the graphic and visual arts with biography and cultural history, she has expanded the realm of nonfiction."

That is honestly a perfect description of Radioactive. The story of Marie and Pierre Curie's lives, Radioactive opens with an excerpt from "Lecture on Radium" by Loie Fuller that is almost a soliloquy to the magic of science. The word "magic" is used repeatedly. It's a scholarly work but it sets the tone brilliantly. This excerpt is followed by a bewitching 2-page illustration and then a simple line drawing with a single paragraph introducing each of the subjects: Pierre Curie and Marya Sklodowska (later Marie Curie).

I was a little stunned at the odd simplicity of the illustrations in Radioactive, at first. They seemed loose, almost childish. But, as the book progresses and Pierre and Marie's lives unfold and intertwine, the illustrations and period photographs combine to take on an eerie blend of professional artistry and simplistic genius. Between the text -- which is very informative if, at times, the science itself lost me -- and the unique illustrative style, the book has a magnetic appeal. By that, I mean I couldn't put it down till I finished. Too bad I started reading it at bedtime. The book is a quick read but I started it late enough to end up with a reading hangover.

Highly recommended - A unique, well-written biography that transports you to the world of Pierre and Marie Curie. I've always thought of both of the Curies in a distant, abstract way, but I came out of the reading with, I think, a well-rounded image of both as individuals, so they now seem more human and less like names from a list of scientists involved in important breaththroughs. Also of interest: I had no idea that after its discovery radium was touted as a bit of a cure-all. Horrors. I wonder how many people died because of that trend.

Tuesday, September 08, 2015

He was still a joke to Piper. He saw it in the way she watched him, waiting for him to screw up in some way, to let Margot down. There was something slightly amused--mocking even--in the way she looked at him and spoke to him, as if he were still an awkward little boy.

~ from p. 87 of The Night Sister
Amy, Piper, and Margot were best friends as children. Amy lived in the Tower Motel, a motel in London, Vermont with a tower fashioned after the Tower of London of English fame. After a highway began leading traffic around the town, the hotel lost its thriving business and it sat, mostly empty, the tower crumbling nearby. The friendship of the three girls faded after the year they found a suitcase full of letters written by Amy's great aunt, Sylvie Slater, who supposedly went to Hollywood but was never heard from, again.

When Amy and her family are found murdered, only their young daughter still alive, Piper returns from California, half out of concern for pregnant Margot's health but mostly because of a cryptic note Amy left behind. Margot and Piper know it's a clue and they don't believe Amy was capable of murder, but they'll have to work carefully around Margot's husband Jason to determine what happened. To find out what's going on and what kind of monster killed Amy's family, they must return to the hotel and delve into the lives of the past, to Sylvie and Rose. Rose, Amy's grandmother, is still living. And, she believes in monsters.

My thoughts:

The Night Sister is seriously creepy, but it's more frightening at the beginning and then loses a bit of its tension as the story goes back and forth in time. Still, the questions that make the book a page-turner continue to pull you through the book, even if it seems to lack the urgency of the beginning. What became of young Sylvie? What did the three girls find in the suitcase that caused them to drift apart? What's the meaning of the message about the 29th room? Are there really monsters in Vermont? Was Amy killed by a monster or did she murder her own family?

Recommended - I liked The Night Sister for the fact that the pages flew, but I confess that I found the ending a bit of a letdown and some of the answers to the questions were a shade disappointing. I think it's partly that I wanted it to go one direction and instead it went another. Having said that, I enjoyed the story, in general (I gave it 4 stars at Goodreads), and think it's absolutely right for this time of year and would make an excellent read for the RIP X Challenge, if you're participating. It did give me nightmares at the beginning, so watch out if you're nightmare prone!

Monday, September 07, 2015

I was in Vicksburg quite a bit, last week, so it comes as no great surprise that I dropped by the perpetual library sale. At some point, Kiddo and I ended up in a restaurant, the conversation faded, he pulled out his phone, and I was left sitting there with nothing to read. Horrors! So, I deliberately went in search of books to store in the car for Emergency Reading Material.

Books that walked into my life, this week:

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris,

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman,

The Marseille Caper by Peter Mayle, and

Circle of Three by Patrica Gaffney - all library sale purchases (That's a whopping $1 expenditure)

Frozen Wild: How Animals Survive in the Coldest Places on Earth by Jim Arnosky

Currently reading:

Ross Poldark by Winston Graham

I'll probably finish Ross Poldark, tonight. I've loved immersing myself in the Poldark world so much that I ordered a copy of Demelza. It's been fascinating to find that Ross is every bit as intense in the novel as he was in the series. He is even described as "brooding". I know some friends of mine found his dark, brooding looks and the drama of the series a bit over-the-top (and there were times I felt that way, as well) but I can see, now, that it was just a matter of pulling the most dramatic scenes from the book. I've gotten a much better sense of the time over which the series takes place from the reading, since each section includes dates. Now, I know that Demelza was 13 when Ross cleaned her up and hired her as his "kitchen wench" and 17 when they married.

In other news:

Huzzybuns thinks Isabel "has a new lease on life" and claims that she has been friendlier since she returned home from her time in the kitty hospital. "Friendlier," in this case, means she has been bolder about sniffing his toes. There's no doubt she's been extremely happy since she returned home. Here's a shot of her relaxing in the master bedroom, this morning:

She has a little pink patch on her back where it looks like she's been scratching herself. I presume that's where she was injected with her medication, last week. But, it's not raw; she's just missing a bit of fur from scratching, from the looks of it. Isabel is currently in the desk chair that I had to sacrifice because she kept stealing it. I don't know what I would have done without my little shadow. On Saturday, the stress of the week finally caught up with me and I cried buckets. Husband packed me into the car and took me for a drive, bought me a frappuccino, and I let it all out. I imagine the experience will haunt me for some time.

Friday, September 04, 2015

Anyone who follows me on Twitter or Facebook and has read this week's posts will already know this story, but I figure it's worth sharing. This has been a harrowing week for cat mommying. I had a birthday and Huzzybuns surprised me with flowers and chocolate:

This is a big, fat, hairy deal. I was 17 when I met my husband and now we're grandparents. In the many years we've been together, he's maybe bought me flowers 3 times. I let the cats sniff the flowers under supervision (Izzy's actually sniffing one of the whimsical butterflies added to the arrangement, in this photo):

They didn't seem all that interested after a thorough inspection; and, I wanted to keep the flowers in a prominent place where I could admire them. So, I left them on the dining room table. Big mistake. The next morning, I started up my computer, walked away, and found Isabel in the process of eating some of the flowers.

Fiona continued to ignore them, thank goodness.

I hurriedly swept the flowers away, looked up the florist Huz used, located a photo of the arrangement (which included the names of the flowers), identified the blooms I'd caught her eating, and checked to see if they're dangerous for cats to ingest. She had been munching on larkspur. Sure enough, larkspur is toxic to cats. I called my veterinarian's office and they said, "Bring her in."

The vet swept her away after telling me what he planned to do and said she would need to spend the night. It was a long, long night and an equally long day. He wanted to keep her a full 24 hours to make sure she had the toxin out of her system before leaving. Not long after she threw up the flowers, the vet later told me, she began salivating -- an early symptom of the toxic effects. However, she improved quickly and never did show any neurological symptoms, thank goodness. She was every bit as happy to be home as we were to have her back. Fiona gave her two sweet eskimo kisses. This photo was taken just before Kiss #2:

And, here you can see that Isabel was pretty perky after she arrived home. This was taken an hour or two after our return from the vet:

I've never been so happy to wake up with both cats nearby as I was this morning. Izzy seriously turned on the charm.

Meanwhile, Fiona (whose favorite box recently was replaced with an equally small but stronger version . . . she will not be mailed, priority or otherwise) admitted to enjoying a night as Only Cat but was perfectly content to have her sister back in the house.

And, the flowers are now safely out of reach. Any future flower gifts will go directly to the mantel.

Thursday, September 03, 2015

The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray: A Critical Appreciation of the World's Finest Actor by Robert SchnakenbergCopyright 2015 (This is an assumption; I don't see a copyright date in the book)Quirk Books - Biography in encyclopedia format/nonfictionIncludes filmography, bibliography, quotes, and numerous photos272 pp. Release Date: September 15, 2015

The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray was my most-wanted fall release, so I was really excited to get the opportunity to review. I love Bill Murray. He's quirky and unpredictable; he becomes even more interesting with age. I can't say there are actually all that many of his movies that I'm in love with, but those that I do like are keepers that the entire family has watched over and over and over, again. Stripes, Ghostbusters and What About Bob? are some of our favorites. And, I learned enough about his movies (some of which I'd never heard about) that I have a list of unwatched Murray movies to seek.

The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray is set up like an encyclopedia of Murray, with topics as diverse as the Chicago Cubs and Nudity, in addition to entries about movies in which he's starred, shrugged off, and even some he never heard about because he neglected to return phone calls. There are anecdotes interspersed, plenty of quotes, and tons of photos.

Things I learned about Bill Murray:

Bill Murray has a more diverse interest in roles than I realized.

There are quite a few Murray brothers in the acting business. I was familiar with all of them but didn't realize any were related to Bill.

He probably wouldn't like me; I don't tolerate alcohol.

If you run into Bill Murray in public, it's best to just smile at him and look away. He doesn't like being approached. But, he might crash your party if he happens to hear about it and be in the right mood.

This is a very quotable book. I kept my husband entertained with anecdotes and quotes from Murray as I was reading. He enjoyed it as much as I did.

My only complaint about The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray is that the photos are not all labeled. I like a caption beneath every photo so that I know exactly who I'm looking at and what's going on, even if the subject matter is obvious. Some photos contained captions, many did not.

Highly recommended - Fans of Bill Murray will appreciate this book but beware! As in every case in which you learn about a beloved actor's personality, you may find your opinion of him slightly dimmed by reality (then again, he may become your hero . . . I guess it depends on the reader). Regardless, it's a terrific, all-encompassing reference, especially if you want to, say, have a Weekend Murraython. Since many of his best and worst comedy skits are also mentioned, The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray is a terrific reference for looking up old Saturday Night Live material and other early Murray skits, as well.

Many thanks to Quirk Books for catching my tweet and kindly offering me a copy of The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray!

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Bookfool periodically whispers unusual words and disappears in a puff of smoke. New review policy can be seen below by clicking on the Eat, Sleep, Read image. All material (including photos, but excluding most cover images) is my own unless otherwise stated and thus protected by copyright. Please leave a comment on any post to request permission to use content from this blog.